Taiwan to Probe Fairness of Hiring of Adjuncts

Submitted by Scott Jaschik on January 2, 2013 - 3:00am

Taiwan's Ministry of Education has agreed to study whether universities are avoiding fair pay for faculty members by hiring part-time professors instead of full-time professors, The Taipei Times[1] reported. Between 2001 and 2011, the number of part-time professors at universities in Taiwan increased by 63 percent. Faculty union leaders have complained that universities are trying to save money by hiring part-timers, even though there has been enrollment growth that would pay for more full-time positions. The Education Ministry adopted a regulation last year stating that while universities may use four part-time instructors to replace one full-time professor, a university's total number of part-time faculty members cannot exceed one-third of the number of full-timers.

Chen De-hua, the deputy minister of education, told the Times: "We will take a very close look into the matter and if we decide that some universities have infringed upon the rights of teachers and students, the ministry will seek to remedy the situation and look for ways to prevent re-occurrences."